ROBOTICS:

Robotics, design, construction, and use of machines (robots) to perform tasks done traditionally by human beings. Robots are widely used in such industries as automobile manufacture to perform simple repetitive tasks, and in industries where work must be performed in environments hazardous to humans. Many aspects of robotics involve artificial intelligence; robots may be equipped with the equivalent of human senses such as vision, touch, and the ability to sense temperature. Some are even capable of simple decision making, and current robotics research is geared toward devising robots with a degree of self-sufficiency that will permit mobility and decision-making in an unstructured environment. Today’s industrial robots do not resemble human beings; a robot in human form is called an android.

Robot woman

robot chef

A robot chef cooks a meal at a robot-themed restaurant in Hefei, China.

Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori proposed that as human likeness increases in an object’s design, so does one’s affinity for the object, giving rise to the phenomenon called the "uncanny valley." According to this theory, when the artificial likeness nears total accuracy, affinity drops dramatically and is replaced by a feeling of eeriness or uncanniness. Affinity then rises again when true human likeness—resembling a living person—is reached. This sudden decrease and increase caused by the feeling of uncanniness creates a “valley” in the level of affinity.

Robotics is the interdisciplinary study and practice of the design, construction, operation, and use of robots.

Within mechanical engineering, robotics is the design and construction of the physical structures of robots, while in computer science, robotics focuses on robotic automation algorithms. Other disciplines contributing to robotics include electrical, control, software, information, electronic, telecommunication, computer, mechatronic, and materials engineering.

The goal of most robotics is to design machines that can help and assist humans. Many robots are built to do jobs that are hazardous to people, such as finding survivors in unstable ruins, and exploring space, mines and shipwrecks. Others replace people in jobs that are boring, repetitive, or unpleasant, such as cleaning, monitoring, transporting, and assembling. Today, robotics is a rapidly growing field, as technological advances continue; researching, designing, and building new robots serve various practical purposes.